Brains Before Beauty
by kissofavampirexo
Summary: He meets her at a Junior Scholar comp. in New York. She has a secret she needs to keep and he needs to know.Her past is closer than she thinks,though. VERY BAD SUMMARY, READ FIRST CHAPTER FOR BETTER IDEA! RATED M FOR LATER CHAPTERS! READ AND REVIEW PLEASE
1. Ditching Home

EPOV

"Ugh. Nerds. An entire week of nothing but you, over-starched suits, and control-top pantyhose. I can't believe you got me into this. I knew I should have joined the yearbook committee but no, it was all 'oh don't worry girls love smart guys' and I was actually stupid enough to believe you. So now, I am stuck going to New York for an entire week, going to Broadway musicals and buying out the entire stock of I Love New York t-shirts while you shop your entire college fund away! Agh." Alice looked at me with that stupid 'I'm littler than you and I still got my way' look and smiled. "You know, I'm sure there's bound to be at least one girl there who doesn't wear knee-high socks over pantyhose. And face it; at this rate any girl is better than Tanya. Even Emmett hates her! Come on, pack your stuff we gotta leave soon!" And so with that, my little sister with more energy than the Energizer Bunny on Red Bull belted into another rousing chorus of the theme from New York, New York. I groaned and turned up my iPod, smiling when Clair de Lune came on, thankfully drowning out her voice. I could get through this. It was only for one week anyway, right?

BPOV

Finally, an escape. The painful nights, stress-filled days, they were all about to end. I'm determined to do anything it takes to get out of this place. With the little ones finally gone somewhere hopefully better, I had nothing to worry about, except that by the time I got back Phil would have found out how to feed himself something other than liquor. It was almost over. By the time my wardrobe was packed, it would be time to go. A simple bus ride and retrieval of the money I had carefully invested and saved under my and Phil's name and I would be out of here for good. One call and Phil wouldn't be able to do anything to a child ever again. I was smart enough to get a scholarship after this, and everything would be behind me. Nobody would ever find out about my past, I was positive. If they did, it was a simple matter of getting away from them and erasing all memory. I had gotten good at that. First Charlie, then Renee, and then Jake. Life was cruel, but I was determined to fix that. I couldn't have bad luck for my entire life, right?

A/N

Please, please, please review!!!! Not everybody she has mentioned is dead, and you'll find out soon enough what happened to them. PM me if you have any suggestions or questions about how the story line is going to go! I'm going to try to update it at least once or twice a week, but I can't do it without everyone's help! The more reviews and suggestions I get, the more I will update! This is not a bribe, I will update it anyway, but I can promise you I can get very slow with updates without persuasion and pressure!!!! Give me opinions people! Poll up on my page on the involvement of certain characters, so vote!!!!!


	2. Freedom

**EPOV**

I think I am about to be seriously plane sick. It has been three hours, and all that has happened it Alice discovering that Barneys was having a huge sale while we were going to be in New York and so had started bouncing. Kill me now. The only consolation I have is the fact that we only had four hours left. Agh. At this point, I don't even have my iPod to save me thanks to my charger breaking and me not realizing it. That's what I get for listening to my little sister when she says that the blinking red light means it's done charging. Now all I had to listen to was the fight going on between the people sitting next to me. Apparently according to a girl it's a bad thing to find your fiancée in the middle of a show with nothing but exotic dancers, poles, and a hard-on. Clearly this guy was a complete idiot. It's just too bad she didn't realize it before she agreed to marry him. He claims he was drunk but, c'mon, even I can see right through that lie. Normally I wouldn't care, but it was this or Alice's mumbling over whether it would be more practical to get the 4-inch Prada wedges or the Prada kitten heels. Ugh. I am officially stuck in hell. 4 more hours, only 4 more hours, I can get through this.

************************

2 HOURS LATER

************************

I can't do this. If these people don't shut up, I think I'm going to have a fit. At this point, I have a migraine, Alice is mad at me because I snapped at her for asking me which shoe I thought was more practical (after debating this herself for over an hour! Who needs over an hour to decide on one pair of shoes?!), and the couple next to me have gotten so loud that the flight attendant has come over twice with passenger complaints. Like everybody wasn't complaining. It could not get any worse than this at this point.

It just got so much worse. I was falling asleep when all of a sudden I felt something cold seeping through my pants. Apparently the brute next to me knocked his girlfriend's drink over, right into my lap. So now, I have a migraine, my sister is mad at me, and it looks like I peed myself. Seriously. When I imagined traveling to New York, I didn't think it would be anything like this. Only two more hours to go, Cullen. Just grin and bear it. Don't let yourself get away. I shook anyways. My hands tensed on the armrests. I was just about to scream when a small hand landed on my arm. "Edward, calm down" Alice said as she looked at me with concern. She knew my past. And unfortunately, she was right. If I let that get a hold of me now, there was no way I would be able to trust myself for any length of time. I just had to stay calm.

**BPOV**

My butt hurts. I was happy, I was out of the hellhole I was in a few hours ago, but never before in my life have I had to sit for 7 hours straight. And on top of it, all I can smell is the disgusting airplane food. I may not have had the best life so far, but even I knew how to cook a pretty decent meal and boy, this is not one of them. My ears were ringing as I took off my earphones, the light above me turning red. "We will be landing in just a moment, please turn off all electronics and be sure that your trays are in the upright position. It's a gorgeous day here in New York, a cool 78 degrees with a slight breeze. Thank you for flying with us, and enjoy your time in the Big Apple!"

Finally, I was here. The nightmares were officially over; there was no turning back now. I bounced as the plane touched down, my heart racing, emotions flooding my brain. I don't know what I want to do first. Even as I looked out of the window, the sights were astounding. Light bounced off of the gleaming buildings, advertisements flashing on larger-than-life screens. The outline of the entire city stood tall against the bright blue sky. In just a few short minutes, I would be there. I could do anything; I was free. So what would I do first? "Eat a corndog" I whispered to myself, and the old man next to me turned to stare. This was my new beginning. And I can't wait to begin.

*******************************

*******************************

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for reading my story! I know it's a bit slow right now, and you're all probably really confused, but things will get a lot clearer in the next few chapters. If you read closely enough, you picked up on the fact that Bella isn't the only one with troubles in her past. Edward has a little secret he has kept for some time, and trust me; it isn't what you think it is! Message me with your theories!!**

****Btw, please vote on the poll, I can't get the story too much farther without your help! I have an idea of what I want to do but that isn't going to do much without some support! REVIEW AND VOTE, YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!!!!!!**


End file.
